Gene Therapy’s Breakout

September 14, 1990 was the first FDA approved human clinical trial for gene therapy. The patient, then 4 years old and suffering from adenosine deaminase deficiency, is now thirty years old, a college graduate, and married. The field went into a trough after one young man in the US, and several children in France died, but in 2016 gene therapy had several successful outcomes. As this piece forecasts, 2017 may be a breakout year for several genetic diseases. MORE